Wheel



F. B. MILLER.

WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 27, 1920.

1,422,591 Patented July 1111, 1922,

11v VENTOR.

WHEEL.

Application filed April 27, 1920.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK B. MILLER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Scottdale, in the county of iVestmoreland and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inlVheels, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactspecification.

This invention relates to wheels for various types of vehicles. and moreparticularly to lubricating means for such vehicles.

One object of my invention is to maintain a liberal supply of lubricantto the bearing portion of the wheel.

Another object is to prevent excessive waste of lubricant.

A further object is to provide a wheel the lubricant supply chamber andpassageways of which are arranged to permit circulation of thelubricant.

These and other objects are accomplished by providing a wheel havingcommunicating bearing and lubricant supply chamber, means forcirculation of lubricant from one of said chambers to the other, andmeans of preventing the escape of lubricant from said chambers.

The invention is illustrated on the accompanying sheet of drawings inwhich:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view in a vertical plane.

Fig. 2, is a transverse sectional View taken in the plane of line 22 ofFig. 1, showing lubricant retaining ring, passageways and lubricantsupply chamber.

Fig. 3, is an end view of the lubricantretainer ring.

Fig. 41, is an elevation of said lubricantretainer ring.

The various novel features of my invention will be apparent from thedescription and drawings, and will be particularly pointed out in theappended claim.

While this invention finds particular application to car wheels forsmall cars and mine service, the invention is not limited to such carsand to such service.

The wheel 10, herein shown, has a hub 11 provided with annular andradially extending grooves 12, having a plurality of circumferentiallyspaced passageways 13 forming means of communicating between a bearingportion or chamber 14 and a lubricant supply chamber 15, both of whichare formed Within the hub 11. The ports 16 Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented July 11, 1922.

Serial No. 376,964.

form means of communication between said lubricant supply chamber 15 tochamber 147.

Located within the annular grooves 12, is alubricant-retainer ring 21which is adapted to engage around an axle 17, said lubricant retainerring having two annular and radially extending flanges 18. Surroundingone of said flanges is a counterbore 19.

In operation, assuming the lubricant supply chamber 15 is provided withan amount of lubricant not to exceed the level 20, the lubricant willflow through ports 16 into the bearing chamber 141 by reason of gravityof the lubricant and relative movement of the inside walls of thelubricant supply chamber when the wheel is in motion. Lubricant havingcirculated through the bearing chamber is deflected toward the peripheryof the annular groove by a flange 18 of the lubricant retainer ring 21,after which it goes back to the lubricant supply chamber through thepassageway 13. N hen the wheel comes to a state of rest, or at times therotation is not great enough to keep the lubricant to the periphery ofthe annular groove, it is obvious the lubricant seeking its lowest levelwill fall between the flanges 18, which will prevent excessive amount oflubricant from escaping through the clearance 22.

There may be many modifications of the invention other than shown anddescribed and it is my intention to cover all such modifications whichdo not involve a departure as set forth in the appended claim.

What I claim as new is:

A self-lubricating wheel with a hub, a bearing portion in the hub forreceiving an axle, an annular groove in the hub surrounding the axle andadjacent to the end of the hub, said groove provided with a counterborein the side of the groove adjacent to the end of the hub, a ring in thegroove hugging around the axle, said ring having two outwardly extendingflanges, one of said flanges concentric within the counter-bore means bywhich a lubricant flows to the bottom or periphery of the groovecommunicating with the bearing portion.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature, in the presence of twowitnesses.

FREDERICK B. MILLER.

Witnesses:

STEPHEN RUTHERFORD, C. R. BooKER.

